This is part of a series. It reads best as part of the series. The writing is beautiful and poetic. The twists are beautiful. A great book

I read this book in a day. It provided fantastic context for We Were Liars which I hugely enjoyed. I'd love another prequel told from the point of view of Penny.

I enjoyed this book and it provided an interesting context and set up for We Were Liars, which I originally read when it was released but re-read in the run up to the release of this book. I don't think it quite lived up to my expectations as We Were Liars is definitely one of my favourite books ever. However, it explores some interesting themes around family, deception, facades etc. It also had some very gripping moments. A solid four star read.

5 Stars. Family of Liars is the compelling prequel to We Were Liars, still based on the lives of the Sinclair family though this time delving into the lives of the parent's of the children in We Were Liars. Such a captivating prequel to the original story, I couldn't put the book down even once. The writing made you feel perfectly in the headspace of Carrie, and the communication between teenagers was surprisingly accurate which is something a lot of YA books struggle with. Thankyou to Netgalley for the e-arc.

Loved this, the authors ability to blur the lines between right and wrong adds layers of complexity that make this a standout in the genre.

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this one so ended up not reading very much of it. I enjoyed her other book so was surprised I wasn't able to get into this one

This perhaps wasn't the best choice for me. I found the story quite slow and although stayed with it, was unimpressed until around 70% of the way through. The author is new to me and perhaps I would have benefited from reading some of their other stories. However, this has put me off reading the others.

There is nothing essentially wrong with the story, it just isn't my taste. I found the characters unlikeable and aspects of the story that I woukd have liked to have heard more about, were glossed over.

This was such an interesting and incredible read, there was such depth and intrigue. I found myself completely entranced by the story.

I don’t know how i feel about this book. It didnt grab me as much as we were liars. Felt more like teenage angst and a novel of growing up

I love the secrecy and secrets that come along with this family although I never found it as exciting as we were liars.

I would struggle to be able to review this book due to issues with the file/download. The issues stopped the flow of the book. The issues are:
- Missing words in the middle of sentences
- Stop/start sentences on different lines
- No clear definition of chapters.

I would be happy to re-review if a better file became available. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to re-read and review if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for review. Unfortunately after reading the original book and not enjoying it I did not finish this book.

We Were Liars is one of my favorite thrillers - I've been waiting for a follow up for years! I'll keep mostly mum to avoid any spoilers, but this was as good if not better than the first!

I recently reread We Were Liars and was blown away once again by how good it was. It really is one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time again, so I don't know the twist is coming. That being said, I didn't have high hopes for Family of Liars. How could anything compare with the original? Boy was I wrong. It was brilliant and has an equally thrilling twist that I did not see coming until the very last second. E. Lockhart is a genius!

I enjoyed Family of Liars in as much as I didn't hate it. It was one of those books that I felt was good but wasn't amazing. It is a good character study but it has less of a punch in terms of its plot than We were liars which had more of a twist. That said the ending wasn't particularly predictable. I really liked the characters which made it readable and I wouldn't put anyone off it who liked We were liars.

I am a total pedant so when I realised this was the prequel to We Were Liars I abandoned this one until I had read the first novel.

They really were a family of liars.

I really wasn’t a fan of the family at all. A private island, multiple houses a servant and lots of money. Summer of 85 is one I remember well as I was 15 but I found their summer far different from mine.

the main protagonist Cady is a broken teenager, and her viewpoint is clearly the result of a family full of secrets. She is just as much a liar as the rest of the family. Who all have secrets.

I didn’t not like this story, but I didn’t like it. Its very different from We Were Liars. Its more a coming of age for Carrie as she comes to terms with the death of his sister Rosemary, her surgery, her emotions.

I read this immediately after finishing We Were Liars, and with the characters and story still haunting me, and high hopes for an equal to that book.
I was not exactly disappointed, as Family of Liars offered more of the same: A Story of a bunch of rich white privileged kids ensconced on a private island for the summer and a smattering (all right, a lot!) of family drama.
However, this is also where it fell down: It was a lot of the same.
As with We Were Liars (which was truly excellent and lingers with me still), in Family of Liars, we have an unreliable teenage girl narrating, interspersing the narrative with lies and fairytales laden with metaphor. We have the ghosts, WE have the Martha's Vineyard backdrop. We have the family, the cousins, the visiting boys, the 'first love' and the fall-outs. But Carrie's voice (Family of Liars narrator) might as well be Cadence's voice (We Were Liars narrator) - they are exactly the same, and the story is too much of the same. It's as if the author thought 'this was a good story, I'll rewrite it a couple of decades earlier, change everyone's name to the names of their mothers, and bingo, I'll have another hit. I enjoyed the story, but found it a bit of a cheat, to be honest, and because it was too much of the same thing, it lacked the sucker punch and lingering impact of We Were Liars.

Wow, another great book by Lockhart. This story is the prequel to the fabulous We Were Liars, which was a book that stayed with me long after I finished it. The island that belongs to the family is such a mysterious and rich place for stories, and I was really glad to go back. Fabulous, moving, sad...

This was a bit of a slow burner for me, but I persevered and I’m glad I did.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Unfortunately this was a DNF.
I didn't DNF because I wasn't enjoying it, not by any means, but instead it just wasn't the right time for me to read it as I fell into a massive slump. However I'm definitely going to pick this back up again at some point in the future as I have so far enjoyed what I have read.